


Fusion

by Kittenshift17



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Cat type pokemon, Catch them all, Dog type poekmon, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Mating Rituals, Not League Trainers, Pokefusion, Researchers - Freeform, bear type pokemon, rodent type pokemon, speciality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-09-05 09:29:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenshift17/pseuds/Kittenshift17
Summary: Maggie Cantino sets out on her journey to become a Pokefusion Professor at sixteen. Running into Seth Wrecker on her first night out might just be the best thing that's ever happened her. Too bad his Team Rocket heritage is nipping at his heels every step of the way. Can she keep Seth from falling in with the family he left behind, or will she be drawn into the mess along with him?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: *Can almost hear the groans of frustration from her HP fandom readers from here*
> 
> *skittishly tries to sneak this into the midst of her fics without them noticing*
> 
> *Is the worst*
> 
> This fic has been sitting, saved on my laptop and just awaiting it's chance to see the light of day, since I was about 20. I've decided to share what I've written, so I hope you all like it. Be advised I have only played Gold, Ruby Red, X, and didn't finish Moon. I rely heavily on bulbapedia for my info about evolutions, pokemon, stats, and canon characters. The main characters are both Original, which I'm usually against, but the theme of the games encourages that, so, *shrugs*. Updates will be sporadic, but here it is. Enjoy.
> 
> xx-Kitten
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, Nintendo, Game Freak, or any of the associated characters of the fandom. I make no profits off this fanfiction.

Maggie Cantino held her breath as she stepped inside the pokémon lab of Professor Sycamore. The day had finally arrived. She was finally going to be a pokémon trainer. For years now she'd been begging her mother to let her begin her journey studying pokémon in their different habitats. She was much older than her friends were when they'd been allowed to set off on their adventures intent on being Pokémon masters and joining the Elite Four.

Not that Maggie wanted to be a master. No, Maggie didn't want to be a Pokémon master. She wanted to be Pokéfusion professor. While Maggie's friends had all been roaming the world since age eleven, capturing, taming and battling with their new pokémon companions, Maggie had been locked up with her mother, studying tirelessly. Maggie's mother was a Pokémon doctor over at the Pokémon centre in Lumoise and she'd been teaching Maggie everything there was to know about Pokémon since the time Maggie could talk.

Much of her schooling had been spent helping out at the Day-care centre for pokémon on Route 7. Maggie and her mother lived in Camphire Town and her mother rode into Lumoise city on her work days. Maggie's interest in pokéfusion had been sparked at the day-care centre. So many young trainers would stop in to leave a pokémon or two, and before they knew it there were eggs popping up all over the place. Some of them were simply the result of two of the same pokémon being dropped off by different trainers. Others were the result of a Ditto and another pokémon being dropped off by the same trainer to breed a pre-evolution of the pokémon they'd caught in the wild.

Lots of people came hoping for Pichus, Igglybuffs and Elekids.

But then there'd been the time when Maggie was thirteen and someone had dropped off a Bulbasaur and a Gloom and something wonderful had happened. A Bulbloom had been hatched. Maggie had been the one to discover it, as it was her job to search the centre for the eggs the pokémon sometimes laid in secret. She'd found it nestled in the long grass at the back of the enclosure and had excitedly rushed it to the head carers at the hatchery, exclaiming over the beauty of the entirely exotic egg. She'd spent extensive time up until then studying pokémon breeding, so she'd instantly recognised that is was a new kind of egg.

Professor Sycamore had been called, and before she knew it, Maggie had been meeting pokémon professors from other regions as well. Professor Oak had flown over from the Kanto region. Professor Elm from the Johto region had shown up a short time later and Maggie had been allowed to sit in on their meeting while they discussed what kind of pokémon it could possibly be. She'd been sworn to secrecy on the matter as well, when Pokéfusion was first discovered. The professors were fearful trainers would begin recklessly breeding incompatible pokémon and cause terrible abuse to the environment and ecosystems already in place.

"Hello, Maggie," Professor Sycamore greeted her when he looked up from his studies, smiling at the sight of her.

"Hi, Professor," Maggie greeted him, smiling back at the man who'd been a mentor to her since she was a child.

"It's finally the day, I see," he said, and Maggie nodded excitedly. "Your mother called me last night, you know? Fretting that you'd get yourself into hot water on your pokémon journey. She's worried about you."

"I know," Maggie said, "But she needs to let me go sometime. I agree now that it was best for me to stay here until I turned sixteen. I've learned much more about pokémon and much more about the world and what I want. Back when my friends all left I was caught up in their ideals of becoming a pokémon master and taking on the champions of every league. If I'd left at eleven I'd still be chasing down the dream of besting Ash Ketchum."

"And now?" Professor Sycamore asked, smiling at the mention of Ash. As big a fool as the man could be, all the Professors respected his ability to befriend and train pokémon.

"Now, I know I want to study pokémon from every region in their natural environments and discover if there are any pokéfusions taking place in the wild that we might be unaware of. Now, I understand how to update a pokedex, coding it with information for any new species that I might discover or breed on my own. Now, I have my priorities sorted out," Maggie grinned at him.

"I don't want you getting your hopes too high about Pokéfusion, Maggie," the professor frowned for a moment. "Not a great deal of these new species' are occurring naturally in the wild. Much of the pokéfusion we've seen in recent years has been a result of terrible people like Team Flare and Team Rocket and all those other terrible groups forcing pokémon together to breed new hybrid species. Many of them have been unsuccessful, as you know. I'd hate to see you lose hope for pokéfusion as a result of the terrible creatures these people are forcing into existence."

"I won't lose hope, Professor," Maggie assured him, "Pokéfusion is really just the beginning of a new evolutionary adaption within the Pokémon world. These people forcing fusions are usually unsuccessful. I'll stop any of them I come across. And I'll see what I can do about fostering pokéfusion between particular types of pokémon from different regions to see whether they are compatible."

The professor nodded. "Make sure you keep in touch with me, Maggie. I must admit that I'm excited to see what discoveries you will make in the future."

"You know I'll be calling you all the time excitedly over some new discovery I've made," Maggie laughed, rolling her eyes. She already did so often even just when she was at the Day-care centre and she observed a new trait from a particular pokémon type.

"Well, good," the Professor said and Maggie grinned when he got that awkward expression on his face where he was feeling emotional about something and didn't know what to do with it.

"I want you to take this," he told her, handing her a Pokedex of her own. "That one's a bit different to that of a regular trainer. You'll still be allowed to enter the leagues if you choose, and you'll be able to access the labs of the other Professors throughout the regions. I've listed all their contact numbers inside there for you, just in case. I've also tampered with this one to allow you to update and include new information on any new pokémon you discover. When you enter a new species or new information about an existing species you uncover, it will alert myself and the other Professors in charge of each region."

"Thanks," Maggie said, accepting the Pokedex excitedly.

"It's also your Holoclip, so don't be surprised if some new species is discovered and you receive calls from myself or the others professors. Most of us are getting on a bit in years, and if I'm honest it's been a long time since a level headed and mature student as dedicated to the study of pokémon as you has been out there in the field, uncovering new species. Most of the time we deal with meathead trainers more interested in the league than the pokémon, beyond catching as many as they can, of course."

"Can I conference call all of you at once?" Maggie asked, examining the new machine carefully.

"Yes. If you dial through with this button here," he moved closer, showing her. "It will dial every pokémon lab throughout all nine regions. Keep in mind that we're all on different time-zones."

"You worried I'll call you from Unova at three in the morning?" Maggie grinned.

"Yes," Professor Sycamore admitted. "And then I'll be up every night excitedly looking at the new discoveries you've made and conferencing with the other professors about all the new data. I'll be losing enough sleep as it is while you're on this journey."

He looked away uncomfortably as he muttered that last sentence.

"You worry too much, Dad," she told him quietly.

They didn't often acknowledge that they were father and daughter and Maggie didn't carry his surname. Maggie's mother and Professor Sycamore had been divorced many long years now, since she'd been just a baby.

"I know," he admitted, glancing back at her uncomfortably. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. I don't like the idea of you being out there in the wilderness all by yourself."

"When have I ever put myself in a dangerous situation?" Maggie asked him reasonably.

"I'm not worried you'll do something stupid," he shook his head at her. "But I was a teenage trainer once, you know? I know how cocky and arrogant some of the league stars can be. I know how horrible some Team Flare folks are. What if you run across someone who beats your pokémon to a pulp out in the middle of nowhere and leaves you stranded? What if you get lost in the wandering woods and die of starvation? What if some smarmy boy talks you into bed with him and you come home pregnant?"

"Dad!" Maggie exclaimed, shocked at his words.

"What? It's not as though I'm deluding myself into thinking you're not a teenager. It is in the nature of every species to act to procreate the species. You're not a kid, Maggie. You're a young lady."

"I can't believe you want to have this conversation right now," Maggie told him. "You're starting to sound like Mum."

"I know, I know," he sighed, running a hand over his face tiredly. "I was fine about all this mess until she called me last night in a flap and now all the worst case scenarios won't stop playing in my head."

"I'll be careful. I'm too focused on my research to bother with boys, you know that. And besides, if I meet a boy then I meet a boy. If I don't, all the better. This journey is about me learning everything I can about pokémon and pokéfusion. I can't stay cooped up in Camphire town forever."

"I know. Just promise me you'll be safe. If something looks shifty or dodgy, you steer clear, you hear me? And don't go getting too close to pokémon to study particular breeding rituals or mating battles."

"Dad, I'll be fine, and if I'm not, you're only a click of a button away," Maggie assured him.

He sighed heavily again, still looking worried before he returned to being her Pokémon Professor instead over her overprotective father.

"Alright. Now, I've uploaded your Pokedex with all the information you'll need if you're stopped for identification throughout the different regions. I've made sure you're licenced as a breeder and a pokémon researcher affiliated with my lab so you shouldn't be pulled up on carrying more pokémon than trainers are allowed. I know you won't go crazy like all the young kids do and catch every species of pokémon you see. If you see something extraordinary in a particular species and want to study it in depth, send it to me and I'll study it and make sure it's cared for until you return or until you send for it."

"Are there any particular pokémon you need me to send to you for your research?" Maggie asked him, knowing he was always grumbling about unreliable trainers sending him pokémon of the same common types.

"If you can catch me a Goomy, that would be ideal," he nodded. "I'd like to compare Goomy's anatomical make-up to that of the other invertebrate pokémon like Grimer, Muk, Slugmar, and the others. If you could send me one of each from each region you come across, that would be ideal."

"You couldn't pick something exciting and fun to catch, could you?" Maggie rolled her eyes, not at all liking to imagine just where she might have to go to get her hands on a Grimer and a Goomy.

"All the easy to catch pokémon are plentiful in labs like mine. Every trainer catches one. It's the harder to catch and less frequently encountered pokémon I want to study," he grinned at her innocently as though he hadn't given her a frustrating task.

"I'll see what I can do. Goomy should be easy enough, but the others might be a while coming," she admitted.

"I know. I don't expect you to hop from region to region chasing pokémon for me, Maggie. This journey is about you and what you want to do. Now, I know you love puppy pokémon the best, but I couldn't get my hands on one that would be easy to train as your first pokémon like a Lillipup, so I've got a little surprise for you," he told her, squaring his shoulders. "Wait here just a minute."

He held up a finger indicatively, and Maggie grinned while he dashed towards the back of the lab where he kept the starter pokémon for all the new trainers who came to him for their registration, pokedex and their very first pokémon companion. Maggie had been back there thousands of times over the years, so she didn't need to follow him, no matter how she liked to see the pokémon. Instead, she turned her attention to the research he'd been working on when she came in, noting idly that he was currently studying the anatomical structure of Goomy, Sliggoo and Goodra.

Maggie wasn't surprised. She knew her father had been intrigued for years now about how evolution effected the anatomical structure of a pokémon. And an evolutionary cycle like that of Goomy to Goodra was a fascinating one since the pokémon literally developed more and more bones throughout each evolution. She made a note on his work when she spotted that he'd forgotten to include Sliggoo's shell as one of the bones it developed, knowing it later became the foundation for Goodra's spine.

"Are you correcting my work again?" he asked quietly, making Maggie jump guiltily.

"Just a little," Maggie admitted, smiling when she noticed he had his hands behind his back, hiding something from her.

"What was it this time?" he asked, leaning over to read the note she'd written before chuckling.

"Can I have my pokémon now?" she asked, a flush of excitement filling her.

"Close your eyes," he instructed, and Maggie did as she was told, a smile crawling across her face. She heard the sounds of rustling paper and some muttering before she felt him take her hands and lift them to touch something soft and furry in front of her.

"Open them," he whispered, and Maggie opened her eyes wide, her face aching with the size of her smile when she spotted the adorable little Fennekin looking up at her curiously.

"Fennekin?" she asked, unable to believe her eyes. Fennekin was one of the Kalos starter pokémon and one of Maggie's favourites. She'd always been especially fond of puppy pokémon and any belonging to the canine family. She'd been begging her mother to let her have a Houndour since she'd been five.

"Do you like her?" Professor Sycamore asked hopefully.

"She's beautiful," Maggie said softly, stroking the fox pokémon's soft fur.

"I wanted to give you a traditional starter pokémon, but I knew Fennekin was your favourite of the Kalos starters. Knowing your love for the canine Pokémon, I thought a Fennekin would be the best fit for you. I had Ash catch one for me last week and send her over."

"Thank you," Maggie whispered solemnly, feeling slightly overwhelmed with the amount of thought he'd put into letting her have her first pokémon.

"Now, ordinarily new trainers start out with a single pokémon before going out and catching whatever else they can, but I know you too well to think you'll go out and throw pokeballs at a Pidgey or a Bunnelby, so I have something else for you today," Professor Sycamore told her, smiling fondly when the Fennekin jumped up to lick Maggie's chin excitedly.

Maggie looked over at him suspiciously when he handed her a pokeball with a pokémon inside it.

"What's this?" she asked, pushing the button to release the pokémon.

Maggie gasped when Bulbloom came out, blinking sleepily at her.

"I want you to take Bulbloom with you. She adores you and it will do her good to travel. Otherwise she stays locked up here in my lab listening to my mumbling. She began imitating me yesterday evening when she was playing. I was comparing DNA structures, muttering to myself and she started following me, muttering to herself as well."

"She was imitating you?" Maggie asked excitedly, lifting the dozy nocturnal pokémon and pressing a kiss to her nose.

She was the perfect combination of Bulbasaur and Gloom. She had a round little body and walked on two legs, her little arms sticking out either side. On top of her head were some fleshy, brilliantly red petals with their white spots, and in the middle of the flower was a miniature version of Bulbasaur's bulb. Her face, like Gloom's, was on the front of her round body, though it was made up of Bulbasaur's features and she never drooled. Her body was purple but her arms and legs were green, as was the bulb on top of her head. She was three feet tall and often curled into a cute ball when she slept. More than once she'd been confused for being a plant when she slept outside her pokeball.

Fennekin sniffed at Bulbloom with interest, before licking the end out her nose and barking at the pokémon. Bulbloom waved her arms in alarm for a moment before sneezing Sweet Scent all over the little fox pokémon.

"They're making friends," Maggie grinned, "You really want me to take her with me?"

"You know she adores you. She'd be lonely here without you stopping in every day. Take her with you. She'll protect you and two pokémon is always better than one. Fennekin might do a fine job on her own, and when she evolves she'll wipe out anything that threatens you, but I want you to be safe, and I want both pokémon to be happy."

"Won't this be giving me an unfair advantage?" Maggie asked.

"No," he shook his head, "You're not going on your journey to fight in the leagues; you're doing it to study pokémon and pokéfusion. It wouldn't be right to send you off with one and not the other. If she's with you, you'll be able to record every new ability and trait she expresses, and out there, who knows? She might get up the nerve and the experience to want to evolve into something entirely new."

"And she won't be here mocking you in the lab," Maggie grinned knowingly, returning Bulbloom to her pokeball to allow her to sleep some more.

"There's also that," Professor Sycamore grinned, "Go on now, you've got your Pokedex and your starting pokémon. It's time for you to begin your journey."

Maggie's grin grew impossibly wider and she threw herself into her father's arms for a hug, brushing a kiss to his cheek before she set off for home to retrieve her bag, so she could be on her way.


	2. Chapter 2

Seth Wrecker was beginning to think coming to the Kalos region had been a bad idea. He'd put off coming here as long as he could, if he was being honest. Kalos was the region Cosette haled from and the last thing Seth wanted was to run into the crazy trainer again. It had taken him way too much time to be free of her the last time he'd tangled with the likes of her.

He'd come because the lure of the pokémon he could catch in the Kalos region was too much to resist. The rest of the regions were dismally lacking in feline pokémon – his favourite species – and so in the end, he'd bitten the bullet and chosen to come to Kalos anyway, despite the risk of encountering Cosette. He would simply duck her calls and if he ever spotted her, well, he'd just have to high-tail it the other way before she noticed him.

He'd been in Kalos for almost a month when he realised what date it was and that he needed to get himself to the nearest Venusaur glade. He'd simply allowed his own Venusaur to lead the way, following instincts far more accurate than Seth's compass to take them to the place where the yearly ritual would occur. Seth hadn't minded. Very few people knew about the Venusaur rituals. It was a secret that belonged to the pokémon world and always took place deep in the woods, in secluded glades and places far from the human towns and settlements of each region.

Last year he'd been in Kanto for the Fall Equinox ritual. He couldn't say he minded getting away from civilisation for a little while either. Thus far, he'd found the people of the Kalos region to be more than a little nutty. There were Team Flare fools getting about all over the place and it made Seth antsy. He'd had more than enough experience with Team Rocket in Johto and Kanto. The last thing he needed was to be dragged onto the radar of Team Flare. At least with Team Rocket, they just wanted to breed or steal powerful pokémon with the intent of trying to take over the world.

The whispers about Team Flare suggested they wanted to do more than that. They wanted to end the world, destroying the stain humanity had become. He didn't think they understood that doing so would wipe out all the Pokémon and the beauty left in the world too that they so valued. He'd run into a few of them in Lumoise city last week and Seth had been forced to sweet talk his way out of being dragged into their mix when he'd been spotted with his Pokéfusions at the Pokémon centre there.

Being in the woods, by himself with just his Pokémon was much more Seth's style. Sure, he didn't mind a good catch up with old friends and making new ones, but he'd had enough crazy for one lifetime. He'd fled home at eight years old to begin his very own Pokémon journey and escape the terrible influence of his insane mother. The woman was a high-ranking admin for Team Rocket and from the time he could talk, she'd been trying to set Seth on the same path.

As soon as he thought he could survive on his own, Seth had snatched all the money he could from her purse when she was romancing some grunt and he'd high-tailed it to the nearest Pokémon lab. Professor Elm had been dubious about giving him a pokémon and letting him go out on his own so young, but when Seth had presented his case, the dedicated pokémon professor had formulated a solution to Seth's problem.

The man had put Seth up for a few weeks while he got everything organised, preparing a pokédex for him and organising a few other perks Seth knew most trainers weren't afforded. At eight years old, being allowed to wander about the pokémon lab in Johto had been like having Christmas come early. He'd played with the pokémon other trainers sent to the Professor that they caught and he'd learned many things from the Professor's notes.

When Professor Elm had asked Seth if he would be willing to work for him as a researcher, rather than just as any old trainer trying to collect badges and battle through the League, Seth had jumped at the chance. The Professor had agreed to pay Seth an allowance – and later, a wage - each week, enough to get him by, in return for having Seth travel the world, collecting data on particular types of pokémon.

Seth knew he'd been lucky back then. Fleeing his mother's influence and her wrath hadn't been easy, but he'd managed it eventually. As best he could, anyway.

"This is the place?" he asked Venusaur when the pokémon he'd been following deep into the heart of the woods stopped and turned to him.

"Saur," the Venusaur nodded his head once, nudging Seth toward a nearby glade. Seth grinned at the pushiness of his pokémon, scrubbing his knuckles between Venusaur's eyes and chuckling when the pokémon groaned in delight at the massage before nudging him again. Seth went where the Venusaur wanted him to go, knowing he'd need to find somewhere safe where the others couldn't trample him or charge him in their hyped up state of aggression that came along with the ritual.

Climbing inside the tight copse of trees, Seth dug a snack out of his pack, munching on the protein bar. It was already late afternoon, bordering on dusk and he knew he wouldn't have the chance to make himself some dinner. Not with the ritual. In fact, Seth knew from past experience that he would most likely spend the night hidden in the trees, desperately pleasuring himself when the ritual magic washed over him and drove every beast in the vicinity of the glade wild with lust and the driving urge to procreate.

He'd spent the past two rituals alone, so he knew what to expect and he'd come prepared. Digging around in his pack, Seth found the picnic blanket he carried, spreading it out on the ground in the middle of the copse. There wasn't enough space to unfold it fully, so he folded it into a square that would be comfortable enough to spend the night sitting on.

He was still munching on his snack when he heard it. The sound of muttering, and clumsy footsteps in the gathering dark. Just what he needed, he thought angrily, some fool trainer lost in the woods. Or worse, some researcher who'd heard about the ritual and wanted to investigate. Whoever they were, they were making a lot of noise. The Venusaurs in the glade rumbled warningly and Seth knew whoever the person was, they were in for a rude shock if they kept stumbling about in the dark.

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, poking his head out of the copse when he heard them come closer. Glancing through the gathering dark by only the light of the moon, Seth's eyes widened when he spotted a teenage girl. He couldn't make out her features, but he could tell from the gleam on her pack that it was new. Her shoes looked new, too.

"Oh, bloody hell," he grumbled, narrowing his eyes. Just what he needed. She looked too old to be a brand new trainer, but her un-scuffed gear made him think she must be fresh off the boulevard of some city, venturing into the woods with her pokémon for the first time. She probably had no idea she was about to stumble onto a Venusaur mating ritual. She was probably lost in the woods and trying to find somewhere safe to make camp for the night.

Darting out of the trees, Seth snatched hold of her from behind before she could get herself killed by the rampaging Venusaur males battling in the glade. He wrapped a hand over her mouth to silence any sounds she might utter, bringing his other arm around her waist and dragging her toward his copse. She struggled immediately in his hold, but Seth was much stronger than the little thing.

Dragging her pack off her shoulders and dropping it to the ground next to his just inside the copse Seth hauled her inside the thick trees where they wouldn't be trampled. She made muffled sounds of protest the whole way, wriggling in his hold and trying to get free. Seth supposed he was being unkind. The poor little thing probably thought she was being mugged. But there was little else he could do at that moment than pull her to safety.

There would be time for explanations and apologies later.


	3. Chapter 3

It grew dark much faster than Maggie was expecting when she was on the road all by herself. She'd allowed Fennekin out of her pokéball for most of the way, chatting to the pokémon as she walked. She'd wanted to make it to the forest before nightfall. Maggie had chosen today to set off on her journey on purpose. Tonight was the night that the Venusaur would gather in a glade deep inside the forest for their mating season to begin.

It was the Autumnal equinox and one of the most important evenings on the pokémon calendar. Maggie had forgotten that being in the woods and far from town, it would get darker much faster. She'd thought she would have time to arrive and make camp, but she'd miscalculated how long it would take to traverse the countryside on foot. Especially when there were people getting about everywhere. She'd run into a few other researchers earlier in the afternoon and a few young gun trainers. She'd skirted around most of them. She wasn't ready for a pokémon battle just yet, and she wanted to make it to the glade by nightfall.

She knew she wasn't going to have a chance to make camp before attending the ritual that would begin the mating season, but Maggie didn't mind. Fennekin barked from beside her and Maggie glanced down at the pokémon at her side, noticing that the poor little fox looked a bit tired. Maggie knew the feeling. All the walking had made her tired, too.

"Return," she told the pokémon, fishing the pokéball out of her pocket and allowing Fennekin to rest. Shuffling her pack on her shoulders, Maggie trudged on in the gathering dark. She had no fear of the pokémon she might encounter deep in the forest. Not when she was moving quietly and calmly. Most pokémon could sense when a trainer wanted to battle and when they merely wanted to observe them.

She crossed the path of a Hoothoot as she wandered through the dark, her eyes adjusting to the gloom, seeing only by the light of the full moon peeking through the trees. It was slow going as she tried to keep from tripping over tree roots and to make sure she wouldn't step on any pokémon by accident.

An Oddish dashed by her in the dark, muttering to itself and Maggie smiled at the pokémon. She must be getting close now. Just as she was about to round a copse of trees to where she thought the glade might be, something solid and strong snatched hold of her, jerking her to the far side of a tree.

"Quiet," a male voice commanded in her ear. "You're stomping loud enough to scare off all the Venusaur!"

She struggled wildly, realising she'd been grabbed by a boy from behind. When he kept one hand over her mouth to muffle her shout of protest and used the other to drag her pack from her shoulders, Maggie stomped hard on his foot.

"Ouch!" he snarled in her ear, jerking her back hard against him now that her pack was out of the way. "Stop struggling, you little urchin, and keep quiet. You're going to give away our position! Do you want to be trampled? Hold still!"

He took his hand away from her mouth and Maggie squeaked in surprise when he wrapped both arms around her middle, lifted her and carried her deep into a thick copse of trees.

"What are you doing? Who do you think you are?" she demanded in a whisper when a sudden crash just beyond the trees alerted her to the danger that awaited her had she not been grabbed.

"I'm the guy who just saved your life," he muttered in her ear and Maggie shuddered at the feel of his lips brushing the sensitive shell. The tight space between the trees he'd dragged her into meant she couldn't even turn around to get a look at his face.

"You were about to walk right out into the glade where the Venusaur are battling. Little thing like you would've been trampled!" the boy went on. "Now, keep it down before we're spotted; that big one is probably strong enough to bulldoze these trees right over."

"You made me drop my pack!" Maggie protested.

He wrapped his hand around her face to silence her again and Maggie dug her nails into his arm in protest. At least, she did until he jerked her just a little more to the left and she suddenly caught sight of the glade filled with Venusaurs. That sight took her breath away. When she stopped struggling to be released, the boy took his hand away once more and Maggie leaned forwards, pressing her face between two trees to get a better look at the magnificent creatures beyond.

Enormous male Venusaurs, bigger than she'd ever seen, were battling like leafy giants. The females milled about nearby, all of them shuffling in agitation.

"They're waiting for the moon to rise," she whispered breathlessly when they all looked towards the pale orb hanging in the sky above.

"The males will fight until the ritual begins," the boy behind her whispered in her ear and Maggie startled. For just a moment, the sight of the Venusaurs had caused her to forget he was even there. He'd leaned forward with her, the front of his body pressed intimately against the back of hers. It made her nervous to be in the woods, alone with a strange boy she'd never met, and yet the draw of the ritual meant she wasn't just going to up and leave, no matter what he did. He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her, though that had been her initial suspicion. He just wanted to watch the ritual like she did and he'd acted to save her life.

She supposed she ought to thank him for that.

"How do you know?" she asked without taking her eyes off the Venusaurs, rather than apologising, noticing the knowing tone in his voice.

"Do you see that huge male over there?" he asked, his arm snaking around her ribs in the tight space to point through the trees. Maggie looked where he pointed, noticing the male seemed to be the biggest and strongest. She nodded, feeling her hair brush his skin as she did so.

"He's mine," the boy told her proudly. "I've had him for five years now. For the first two years, things were fine. He evolved pretty slowly, and so it wasn't until our third year together that he evolved into venusaur. He was restless and agitated for weeks and weeks, picking fights with every pokémon we met, refusing to return to his pokéball. I thought he must've outgrown me, until one night he wandered away from me in Johto. I followed him to the first ritual. I've been every year since."

"He's massive. You must take good care of him," Maggie commented, eyeing the Venusaur with a practiced eye. He was undoubtedly the biggest Venusaur she'd ever seen, the thick foliage adorning his back easily dwarfing that of the other males and making a few of the females look like they were still just Ivysaur in comparison to the impressive specimen.

"You've never been to one of these before, have you, kid?" the boy asked her, not acknowledging the compliment on his ability to care for his pokémon at all.

"No," she admitted softly. "I only started my journey this morning. But I've wanted to witness one of these rituals since I was five."

"I thought you looked shiny and new," he muttered. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Sixteen. I have an overprotective mother. Don't ask," she defended. "I'm Maggie Cantino, by the way."

"Seth Wrecker," he replied, wriggling his arm around to shake her hand even though he was still standing behind her in the dark copse. The trees pressed close together and Maggie knew he must've chosen this location to better watch the ritual from up close without fear of being accidentally trampled. Inside the trees he was hidden from the Venusaurs and protected by the thick trees should they sense him and attack.

A loud cry from one of the Venusaur drew her attention and Maggie felt a chill run down her spine when all the males stopped battling and every pokémon in the glade went still. There were hundreds of Venusaurs there, all staring up at the moon. Total silence engulfed the woods for a moment then and Maggie held her breath, breathing in the silence and the anticipation. It was palpable in the air and it made her whole body tremble with nervous excitement. She'd been waiting eleven years for this moment and now it was finally here.

It happened in slow motion. The biggest pokémon in the glade – Seth's Venusaur – began it. The enormous plant upon his back began to glow as he absorbed the moon's rays. She'd seen a Venusaur gathering solar light before, but never the light of the moon. The others followed suit, their flowers blooming wide to absorb the light greedily. It took her breath away when they seemed to grow even bigger, to shine even brighter. As the moonlight seemed to fill each pokémon, they grew bigger, their flowers blooming larger and brighter.

The females gave a shrieking cry that gave Maggie goosebumps and then they began to dance. Petals scattered in the glade, the females dancing wildly and with an abandon she'd never seen, even when the ability was used in battle. Whirling and writhing, they flipped and turned, swaying on their back legs before bucking forward and dancing on their front legs too. Pink petal whirled through the air. Like the wild performance that gave Petal Dance its name, they leaped and twirled, putting on a display like nothing Maggie had ever seen.

"Now comes the good part," Seth murmured into her ear and Maggie shivered at the feel of his lips against her ear once more. He brought both arms around her slowly and Maggie wondered what he was doing. She was too transfixed by the petal dancing Venusaur to ask him, but she did wonder.

At least, she wondered until the males leapt into their plant frenzy. The ground beneath her shook under their enormous weight, every plant in the glade shuddered into bloom, and Maggie felt a strange yearning warmth spread through her body. Seth's grip on her was the only thing that prevented her from stumbling about and crashing into the surrounding trees. His warm strength enveloped her and Maggie shivered at the pulse of desire that shot through her to feel him so intimately against her. The females continued their petal dance as the males frenzied and the world around them shuddered with the urge to procreate. The petals and plants grew so thick that it was hard to make out the pokémon of the glade but Maggie couldn't look away.

They were utterly entrancing as the magic of the pokémon swept through the woods, coating Maggie and Seth along with everything else.

"The Venusaur ritual sparks the beginning to all the pokémon breeding cycles each year. They bring the world to life in ways we've yet to understand. Every pokémon within a hundred mile radius of this event and all the other events like it across the regions will be struck with the urge to breed," Seth murmured to her, sharing the knowledge he'd gained from the past two rituals he'd attended.

"Wow," was all Maggie could manage to say. She suddenly understood the urge the pokémon must be experiencing because a rush slammed into her like a powerful gust of wind as the world around her shuddered to life. Her whole body tingled wildly and Maggie bit her lip on the groan she almost emitted as the warmth beneath her abdomen spread, engulfing her body with heat and a powerful lust.

The light that had gathered in the Venusaur blooms suddenly glowed so bright it hurt Maggie's eyes, growing brighter and brighter before suddenly it burst free, scattering around the glade in a fantastic display of light and magical power.

"And now comes the mature part of the evening," Seth murmured in her ear, causing goosepimples to slide over her skin again with sudden desire. The sound of his voice in her ear was like a hotwire to her secret places, and Maggie squirmed uncomfortably with the urge she had to rub herself against the boy holding her so deliciously.

The dancing and frenzying pokémon in the glade slowed their hypnotising displays and Maggie watched on with intrigue as they came together, the males and females copulating and furthering the species. She knew that come the spring, the mated females would birth eggs that would soon hatch into the new generation of Bulbasaurs, destined to evolve into Venusaur and continue the annual breeding cycle.

"Do you have any pokémon in these balls?" Seth asked her, brushing his hand over her belt and making her shiver with the need to feel his hands against her flesh.

"Two females," Maggie whispered, choking on her lust.

"Let them loose," Seth instructed. "The females will breed and come the spring you'll have some new pokémon eggs to hatch."

She felt him move behind her, calling his own pokémon out of their balls.

"Won't they get lost in the frenzy?" Maggie whispered, watching the way all of his pokémon milled around for a moment before they began dashing away into the undergrowth.

"They'll be back at dawn," he promised. "Let yours go, Maggie. They need it."

Maggie bit her lip for a moment before she did as he instructed, releasing Fennekin and Bulbloom. Fennekin licked her hand before trotting away and Bulbloom stared up at her.

"What is that?" Seth breathed in her ear, clearly fascinated by her pokéfusion.

"A Bulbloom," she replied, as her pokémon skipped away, intent on finding a mate of some description to breed with.

"You have a pokéfusion?" he asked, a tone of awe in his voice, his arms slipping back around her waist. Maggie nodded, not protesting the touch at all. In fact, she welcomed it. She hadn't even seen his face yet, but she knew she'd been entranced by the power of the Venusaurs. She could feel a strange pulsing through her body, a strange yearning to be touched.

"I found her when I was thirteen, working at the Day-care centre near here," Maggie murmured, looking back to the Venusaurs in the glade. She'd seen mating pokémon plenty of times at the centre and in the wild, but there was something so sensual about the Venusaurs as they copulated; something about the ritual that made it much more intense and enthralling. Beyond the glade, Maggie's ears picked up the sound of other Pokémon, too. If she weren't so entranced, she'd be blushing pink at the very idea of watching any creature going at it, but she simply couldn't look away.

She didn't say anything when Seth's arms tightened around her gently. She bit her lip on the strange urge she had to rub herself all over him. She could feel that he was as effected by the ritual as she was, the evidence of the desire the ritual inspired prodding at her backside. Maggie didn't say anything about that either. The intimate moment felt all the more personal to be shared with someone and Maggie didn't want to break the spell by protesting that she knew nothing about this boy but his name and that he had a Venusaur.

She could smell the scent of the cologne he must use, something citrus; it was sharp in her nose, but pleasant. She rather liked it, actually. She could smell it even over the sweet scent of the petals littering the glade and Maggie found herself turning her head just a little bit. He'd moulded himself around her back, his face peering over her left shoulder to be able to see the glade. Before she could resist the urge or feel embarrassed over doing so, Maggie turned her face into his neck, breathing him in deeply.

Seth groaned softly at the press of her nose against his skin and Maggie wondered if his skin felt as sensitive as hers did. She felt like she'd been hooked up to a live wire, as though a fine layer of electricity was dancing over her flesh, sizzling through her nerve endings and making her crazy.

"You shouldn't do that," he murmured, though he tilted his head back a little, allowing her better access to his throat as though he was as powerless to resist the effects of the ritual as she was.

Maggie's breath hitched when he slipped his hands under the hem of her t-shirt, caressing the taut flesh of her abdomen and her hips lightly. Turning her head further, Maggie skimmed the tip of her nose along his collarbone and up the side of his neck, breathing in his citrus scent and marvelling at the sparks of desire that shot through her everywhere he touched her. His fingers dug lightly against her ribs and Maggie realised idly that she'd begun rolling her hips against him, pressing herself back into his embrace and craving something she couldn't voice. Beyond the copse of trees where they stood the raucous sound of coupling Pokémon filled the night, echoing through the forest, and Maggie realised with a start that she wanted to copy them.

Seth tilted his head towards her when she leaned away a little, trying to get a look at him in the dark. Maggie's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't make out much by the light of the moon and the glow of the Venusaurs still lightly pulsing as the ritual continued, but she could tell he was roguishly handsome. His hair was dark and hung in his eyes as he tilted his face toward hers. His jaw was pointed and sharp, his cheekbones high and casting shadows on his face. His eyes gleamed in the light of the moon and Maggie licked her suddenly dry lips when she realised he was staring at her mouth hungrily.

When he met her gaze, Maggie could see the indecision warring within them before the flash that told her she was about to be kissed if she didn't pull away. Maggie didn't. She couldn't. Not that she wanted to. He leaned in slowly, his eyes flashing to hers in question before brushing his lips ever so lightly against her own. She was grateful when she wasn't the only one to make a noise of surrender at the caress. Seth's hands on her hips urged her to turn toward him and Maggie was powerless to resist. She couldn't get enough of the feel of his lips on hers, leaning into him hungrily. In the confined space, she turned to face him, still pressed intimately against his solid form. Bringing her hands up, Maggie tangled them into his hair, kissing him desperately.

Nothing else mattered to her in those moments. She didn't know this boy at all. She knew only his name and yet she craved him and craved his touch like she'd never craved anything else before. His hair was silky between her fingers and his lips were warm on hers. When he licked at the seam of her lips, requesting entrance, Maggie granted it, swallowing the groan he gave as she slipped her tongue out to meet his. His hands clutched at her back, his fingers digging into the skin needily and Maggie vaguely knew she was grinding her pelvis against his desperately.

She'd been with a boy in the past. Last summer a trainer had come into the Day-care centre and she'd befriended him. Maggie wasn't a virgin. She suspected from the way Seth clutched at her, his hands slipping down to her backside and pressing her against him firmly, his hips thrusting against her needily, that he wasn't either. The boy she'd dated last summer had never made her feel like this. Dimly she realised it was probably just an effect of the ritual, but Maggie didn't care. Just as the pokémon in the woods all around them were driven to copulate, Maggie felt the same burning urge.

"If we don't stop now, I'm going to ravish you right here against this tree," Seth warned her, several passionate minutes later, his hands curled around the top of her shoulders from behind, pulling her back far enough to break their desperate kiss. Maggie didn't reply, she didn't even have to think about what she wanted. She didn't think she could stop even if she wanted to. She'd never felt so alive. Shrugging her shoulders in his hold until she could reach his lips again, Maggie kissed him wildly, nipping at his lips hungrily, whimpering when she felt his hands at the hem of her shirt. They broke apart long enough for him to peel the fabric from her body, while Maggie reached for the zip on his hoodie. Shoving it from his shoulders, Maggie dragged his shirt off over his head, dropping each garment at their feet. When he unsnapped the fastening on her bra, and dragged it down her arms, he dropped it on the growing pile before pulling her close again, kissing her soundly.

Maggie whimpered at the way her nerve-endings set fire to feel so much of his bared flesh pressed intimately against her own. She clutched desperately at Seth's back, pressing him closer, feeling the undeniable urge to bring him as close to her as she possibly could. His hands tangled into her hair as he kissed her insatiably, his hips grinding into hers. Maggie lost herself in the feel of his touch, his lips and tongue tormenting her, his hands clutching her as needily as she clutched him.

They fumbled hands when Maggie went for the fastenings on his jeans, unbuttoning them quickly while he returned the favour. He pulled away from her lips slowly before she could shove the garment down his legs, one hand fishing into his pocket and Maggie sighed in relief when he snagged a condom from them. She supposed it was lucky he was thinking straight because she wasn't. She'd completely forgotten such precautions. She took medication to prevent conception, but the added security measure was a necessity, given that she only knew his name. Maggie buried her face against his throat hungrily while he fumbled with the contraception, sliding it on easily when she shoved his pants to the ground. She nipped at his throat and he laughed huskily, his head tilting back of its own accord and meaning he couldn't see what he was doing.

As soon as he was sorted, Maggie felt his hands on her jeans, dragging them down and stealing her knickers away along with them. The cool breeze of the evening caressed her skin as Seth's hand slid down her thigh, lifting her leg to curl it around his hip, angling her hips. She sighed contentedly when he impaled her slowly. He took his time about it despite the desperation she'd felt to have him so close and Maggie clutched him closer, curling her leg around him, her heel urging him closer, driving him deeper.

"Fuck!" she heard him curse as his head dropped back at the incredible feeling of joining his body with hers. Maggie had never felt so good in all her life. She couldn't think. She couldn't even speak. All she could do was cling to him, riding the sea of desire roiling within her and the electrical feel of his touch. The feel of him driving into her high and hard was all Maggie knew then. She was pressed back against a tree, and she could hear the sounds of wild pokémon in the night, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was Seth and the way he was making her feel.


	4. Chapter 4

Maggie woke up on the ground in the woods, feeling like she'd pulled every muscle in her body. There was a dull ache in her abdomen that throbbed in a good way and she blinked sleepily at the sight of sunlight peeking through the trees. It was mid-morning, by the looks of things and Maggie blinked at the sight of what had woken her. The biggest Venusaur she'd ever seen was looming over her.

"Hello," Maggie greeted the pokémon cautiously. Vaguely she recalled this was probably Seth's Venusaur.

She began to laugh when the enormous creature licked her face. Glancing around, she realised she was lying on the ground inside a singular sleeping bag - not her own - and that she wasn't alone. A warm body was spooned around hers snugly and strong arms held her close. A warm citrus scent met her nose that Maggie suspected she would recognise anywhere.

Seth.

Suddenly recalling the night before, Maggie glanced down at herself in horror, expecting she must be naked when she spotted her clothes a little way away. She sighed in relief when she realised she was wearing what must be Seth's black hoodie. It was thick and warm, though much too big on her slim frame. She couldn't help but feel a warm fuzzy feeling inside her soul to be wrapped in it.

"You're supposed to pretend you're asleep," Seth muttered from behind her, his arm around her, urging her back down. Maggie startled at the sound of his voice, attempting to turn and look over her shoulder at him, as she had yet to do in daylight hours.

"Why?" she asked him when she couldn't see him while he was urging her back down next to him properly.

"Just do it and watch," he replied, barely moving as he spoke. His voice was husky with sleep and Maggie shivered at the sound. Maggie raised her eyebrows before doing as he asked, laying her head back down on his arm beneath her neck which she'd obviously been using as a pillow. She closed her eyes and held still, waiting to see what he meant.

She began to laugh when Venusaur made a rumbling noise of protest, nudging the pair of them with his huge head as though trying to wake them up.

"He's hungry," Seth told her in a whisper. "But if he doesn't get to wake you properly, he gets grouchy. He likes to think he's the world's greatest alarm clock."

Maggie laughed harder at that. She adored pokémon for exactly that reason. Their little quirks and idiosyncrasies were just so amusing and endearing. She could study them forever and she would never know everything there was to know about pokémon simply because, like people, their personalities were varied and delightful.

"Maybe you just spoil him," she suggested, still giggling as the Venusaur continued trying to wake them up by rumbling and nudging the top of their heads.

"There's no doubt that I do," he laughed too, and Maggie's breath hitched when he lifted his head, leaning over her before nosing his way into her neck and pressing a kiss to the sensitive skin. A spark of electricity slid over her with as much intensity as it had during last night's ritual and she bit her lip to squash down the idea of shagging Seth all over again. She wondered what was wrong with her that she'd been so willing to sleep with a complete stranger and that she so desperately wanted to do so again.

Venusaur made another noise of protest at being ignored and Maggie cried out in surprise alongside Seth when the big pokémon licked them both with his sticky tongue. A shiver rippled through her as she glanced sideways to meet Seth's gaze. In the light of morning he was even handsomer than she'd thought last night. His eyes were a brilliant shade of green, his hair raven-black. She wondered if he thought the same as she did in the morning light.

"You're prettier than I thought," he told her, as though he'd read her mind and Maggie blushed to the roots of her long caramel locks. Before she had to fumble for anything to say in reply, Venusaur nudged the pair of them again, insistently this time.

"You, too," she mumbled, still blushing even as Seth glanced at Venusaur.

"Yes, you big brute, alright," Seth grumbled, turning his attention to his Pokémon. "I'm awake, I'll feed you. Don't be so impatient! Come on, you're crowding us. How am I supposed get up if you keep nudging me with your enormous head?"

Maggie giggled when he tried to unzip the sleeping bag, getting to his knees before his pokémon nudged him to fall back down again.

"Sorry about this," Seth apologised to her when he fell back against her. Venusaur was clearly in high spirits, and having a wonderful time tormenting his trainer. Maggie thought it was hilarious, she always appreciated the loving and caring relationships between good pokémon trainers and their pokémon. When a true bond of trust and friendship was forged, they shared something special and unique to each occurrence. The fact that Venusaur felt comfortable tormenting Seth in such a way, without fear of reprimand, told Maggie that Seth was a good trainer.

"I don't mind," Maggie assured, him, smiling when she spotted Fennekin and Bulbloom coming toward her. She grinned widely when Fennekin trotted over and burrowed into her arms, snuggling herself up the front of the hoodie Maggie wore before licking under Maggie's chin. Bulbloom waddled over and climbed on top of Maggie too, sitting herself on Maggie's hip and chattering away to herself as she was prone to do.

"I've never seen a Bulbloom before," Seth commented, and Maggie tried not to look as he slipped out of the sleeping bag wearing only a pair of boxers. She failed, but she felt she should get points for trying. She bit her lip at the sight of his tightly muscled, lithe form. He was built more like an Olympic diver than a meathead trainer.

"Neither had I until she hatched," Maggie admitted, "I found her egg at the Day-care Centre on Route 7."

"She's a fusion of Bulbasuar and Gloom, right?" he asked, bring her pile of clothing and her pack over to her.

"Yeah, a couple of different trainers left their pokémon at the centre a few years back for a really long time. I think whoever they were, they might have been travelling together and they left the Kalos region for a time, forgetting that they'd left their pokémon with the Day-care Centre. Being there together so long and so consistently when so many other pokémon were coming and going, I guess they became friends. I've studied breeding extensively, so I knew that the egg wasn't one for just a regular pokémon when I found it, and since they were the only two pokémon in the centre at the time, I knew the egg had to come from the pair of them breeding."

"Didn't you say last night you only began your journey yesterday?" Seth asked, digging a shirt and some jeans out of his pack before he fished out the bowls for his pokémon and the different canisters of food to begin feeding them all.

"Yes, I did," Maggie admitted, "My parents were a little anxious about letting me turn into a meathead league trainer when I had more potential. They didn't let me leave with my friends when I was eleven. At the time I resented them, but I'm grateful now."

"You're doing the league thing?" he asked, glancing over at her as she sat up slowly, trying to fish Fennekin out of her clothing while Bulbloom insisted on being allowed to sit in her lap.

"No. I'm not really interested in gym battles and collecting badges. I imagine I'll have to battle some people along the way as I travel around, but I'm journeying to research pokéfusion and to study the breeding habits of other pokémon. It's why I was here for the ritual last night. What about you? You don't look like a meathead trainer?"

He shot her a crooked grin.

"I'm not. I work for Professor Elm for the Johto region, but mostly I go wherever I fancy. I'm collecting particular species of pokémon in the hopes of encouraging fusions."

"You're into pokéfusion?" Maggie asked, smiling now.

In response he waved his hand at some of the gathered pokémon in the copse where they'd slept, and Maggie's jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, lifting her pokémon out of her lap and crawling towards his in awe. "They're amazing!"

Among his pokémon were three different pokéfusions. Maggie scrambled for her pack, digging out her pokedex quickly.

"What fusions are they?" Maggie asked him, kneeling before a pokémon that she suspected might be the fusion of a Nidoking and a Sandslash. It was four and a half feet high with rubbery purple skin, a Nidoking's horn and the spines and claws of a Sandslash.

"That's Nidoslash," Seth grinned, clearly amused by her excitement. "My Nidoking and Sandslash got friendly last year."

Maggie nodded, pointing her Pokedex at the pokémon. Seth made a noise when a little laser scanner slid over the form of his pokémon, examining it and snapping a picture of it.

"What is that?" he asked her, pointing at the device.

"Oh," she said, looking up at him guiltily from where she'd taken the arm of the Nidoslash and begun measuring the length of its claws. "It's my pokedex. It's a bit higher tech than a normal trainer's. It scans each pokémon, photographs them and I can upload new data on any pokéfusions I encounter... I hope that's okay?"

"Um," he said, looking mildly intrigued. "They make that as tech now?"

"Yeah... but I mean, you have to know people to get one. Professor Sycamore of the Kalos region is my father. He and the other Pokémon Professors have been getting together with me for years to study pokéfusion. They rigged this for me for my journey. It transmits to the Pokémon Professors from every region, every time I upload data on a new or existing pokémon in case I uncover anything new."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're some kind of genius on pokémon?" Seth asked her, eyeing her strangely.

"Because I have a Pokémon doctor for a mother and a Pokémon Professor for a father and they've been drilling me on pokémon information since I was a toddler," she replied. "It makes me talk weird and means I know more about pokémon that the average manual."

"That would probably be it," he nodded, grinning when Maggie blushed over being such a know-it-all.

"Sorry," she apologised. "I'm a little crazy about pokéfusion."

"If you give me your dex, I can sync it with mine and transfer all the information I have on mine about Nidoslash, Meowitty and Pikapunny," Seth told her.

Maggie nodded, scanning the other two pokéfusions before handing it to him and noticing that he pulled out his own pokedex. It looked much different to her own, and from the way it looked like he tampered with it, Maggie began to suspect he might be a tech guy who could recode things like she could.

"You made this yourself, didn't you?" she asked, him, watching the way he linked them with the wireless routers and the information in his dex began to flash up on the screen of hers, syncing the information to hers.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked, grinning crookedly again.

"A little," she nodded. "Not to mention that ordinary trainers can't manually update their dex. They have to sync with a pokémon lab to download any new discoveries. I get the feeling you tampered with the coding on yours since you shouldn't be able to transfer data to mine."

"I can't transfer data with most people, but yours is the newest model and has input capability you can access. It's set up to receive information on pokéfusion, so I don't have to tamper with it to make it cooperate."

"You're a tech nerd, aren't you?" Maggie accused him as she took measurements of the three pokéfusions before her, asking their permission before taking samples of their fur, claws and blood. She was surprised when all three cooperated easily, the Pikapunny bounding into her lap and nuzzling against her hands. Maggie hissed in surprise when the electric shock rocked through her lightly.

"Sorry about that," Seth told her, snatching up the Pikapunny. "She gets too excited about making new friends."

"That's ok," Maggie replied. "It was only a light shock. I imagine it could've been much worse."

"Here's your dex. I transferred the information on the other fusions I've encountered too. There was a guy I met in Unova who'd been experimenting with breeding fusions based on type, like breeding Psyduck and Quagsire but he said it's much harder because the different species mix results in some wild outcomes. Most don't live beyond hatching, if they take at all."

"Is that why you seem to exclusively have cat and rodent type pokémon, besides Venusaur and Quilava? I don't even see the Sandslash or Nidoking that you bred for Nidoslash," Maggie asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I've found it's easier to combine them and have them survive if the genetic make-up of each one is similar based on body type or general breed. Like, Pikachu and Lopunny both loosely belong to the rodent family, so breeding them is easier than trying to combine Pikachu and Persian."

"I've wondered about that," Maggie nodded. "I started my journey with vague notions of collecting the canine Pokémon to see what new species might come into existence."

"I did the same with feline and rodents," Seth nodded. "Canines shouldn't be too difficult, either, since a lot of the canine pokemon are also either Fire type, Dark type, or a combination of the two. Aside from the few electric type canines, and the Evie-lutions, they're mainly of the same type and similar bone structure. It's the same for felines. A lot of them are Fairy and Psychic type. Rodents too, are frequently Electric type. It's mixing incompatible and wildly different species that seems to have some ill-effects."

"You're from Kanto, right?" Maggie asked him, eyeing him curiously as he mixed up food for his different pokémon.

"Johto," he corrected. "But everyone thinks I must be from Kanto because of Venusaur being in his final evolutionary form while Quilava hasn't evolved to Typhlosion yet."

"He's not ready?" Maggie guessed, tickling Quilava's belly and grinning when he made a chortling sound.

"Not yet," Seth shrugged. "I can't say I mind, one enormous brute of a pokémon is unruly enough most of the time."

Maggie grinned when he gave Venusaur a playful shove and got head-butted in the stomach for his trouble. She might've only met the guy last night, and might know very little about him, but the way he interacted with his pokemon was enough to make her think he was a pretty decent person.

"I can see how that would be the case," Maggie nodded. "I often wondered how some of the meathead trainers in the leagues managed to keep so many large pokemon on hand when they were battling. I met a trainer at the Day Care Centre once, and he had a Charizard, a Typhlosion, an Arcanine, a Dragonite, and a Solgaleo in his party, and he was dropping off a Larion. Surely the amount of food he'd have had to carry to feed so many large pokemon would've hurt his back and sent him broke?"

Seth gave a low whistle, sounding impressed. "With those kinds of pokemon on his team – especially a Solagleo – I doubt he lost many battles, and the leagues pay well. The really high nutrient foods can be expensive, but if he could afford it, he'd have been able to carry less because they wouldn't need to eat as often."

Maggie nodded.

"What about you?" Seth asked. "Where are you headed now that last night's ritual is over?"

Maggie shrugged her shoulders, rising to her feet and crossing to collect her pack so that she could begin getting dressed and could return his hoddie to him.

"I'm not really sure. I suppose I'll venture into the wilds and see what kind of pokemon I might happen across. Professor Sycamore asked me to collect a few of the invertebrate pokemon for him to study. I'll try to catch some of them to send to him, and maybe see if I can't round up a few more canine pokemon to find out if they might be convinced to begin breeding outside their species."

She winced as she stooped to collect her pack from the ground, pulling a few strained muscles after last night's exertions.

"Are you alright?" Seth frowned, catching the wince.

Maggie nodded, rising slowly.

"I think I pulled a few muscles last night," she admitted, blushing and looking down to avoid his gaze after addressing the fact that, as a result of the ritual, they'd engaged in numerous rounds of sex well into the evening.

"Right," Seth muttered, his hand lifting to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah. About that… you, um, weren't… you'd done that before, right?"

Maggie looked up, realising he must've thought last night had been her first time.

"Once or twice," she shrugged. "Never quite so… indefatigably."

Seth chuckled.

"Yeah, the ritual will do that," he admitted. "I hadn't spent it with anyone else in my vicinity before, but I knew the effects caused insatiability for a while… Did I hurt you, Maggie?"

Maggie smiled.

"No," she shook her head. "And I was hardly complaining, at the time."

He nodded, his eyes fixed on her.

"It was… certainly a unique introduction, anyway," he said finally when Maggie fished some clean clothes from her pack and awkwardly wondered if she should change in front of him or ask him to turn his back.

"Yes, I don't imagine I'm going to forget meeting you in a hurry, Seth Wrecker," Maggie told him quietly, smiling shyly and uncertain how to proceed.

In the past when she'd slept with boys, they'd either been her boyfriend, or they'd been gone by the time she woke up and she hadn't had to deal with seeing them again in the morning and trying to make small talk.

"Yeah, you too," Seth said, one corner of his mouth pulling up.

Maggie nodded, turning away to begin wriggling into some clean underwear – his hoodie long enough on her to hide her bum for the time being, before following it with some jeans, a bra, and a shirt. When she was dressed she turned back, intent on returning his hoodie, but she couldn't help smiling when she spotted Bulbloom invading Seth's personal space while he sat down and began sorting out bowls of food to feed his pokemon.

"Curious little thing, aren't you?" he asked of Bulbloom.

"She mutters," Maggie told him, carrying her pack and his hoodie across the small clearing and sitting down on the rock beside him, handing him his hoodie.

"I noticed that, yeah," Seth nodded. "What a strange pokefusion that she became a Bulbloom rather than a Bulboddish."

"I did wonder about that," Maggie said, laughing when Bulbloom spotted her fishing out some of her favourite food and the pokemon flung herself at Maggie, crawling into her lap and chattering away to herself as she opened her mouth like a baby waiting to be fed. "I've often wondered if, when pokemon breed, they always hatch the un-evolved forms of themselves, or not. Like last night Venusaur here had his pick of the ladies. And so, are they all going to lay eggs full of little Bulbasaurs? Or will there be tiny Venusaurs in there? At the Day Care centres, it was always a flip of the coin. People would bring in Pikachus hoping to breed a Pichu, and people would bring in Electrobuzz hoping to breed an Elekid, and so on. Half the time they'd get the pre-evolution of the pokemon, and the other they'd just get another pikachu, you know?"

"I think it depends on the level of maturity of the pokemon when they breed," Seth told her, laughing a little as he offered Bulbloom a piece of the food he fed his pokemon – which Bulbloom eagerly gobbled up before making a face and flapping her arms in distress, clearly not liking what she'd been given.

"Their level of maturity?" Maggie prompted, letting Seth take some of the specialised food she carried for Bulbloom so that he could feed that to the pokemon and make her happy again.

"Yeah," Seth nodded. "If they're too young when they breed, they seem to breed a copy of themselves – a companion rather than a child. If they're more mature, I've noticed they're more likely to be able to breed whichever forme of pokemon they want. I've seen Venusaur here hatch all three stages of the Bulbasaur evolution."

"Really?" Maggies asked, excited to hear it.

"Sure," Seth nodded. "They seem to have more control over their breeding abilities than we do as humans, but it seems to vary between species. Most of Venusaur will sire a new batch of Bulbasuars, whereas my Raichu tends to sire pikachus rather than pichus or other Raichus."

"How strange," Maggie said.

"This stuff really fascinates you, doesn't it?" Seth asked, offering her a protein bar.

"Yes," she admitted, blushing. "I blame my parents entirely. One's a pokemon doctor, the other, a pokemon professor, and they got me my first job at a Pokemon day-care centre. It was bound to happen."

"Why pokefusion?" he asked, lifting one eyebrow as he regarded her curiously.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I find all pokemon fascinating, and I'm looking forward to studying them in the wild, rather than just in a daycare centre or a lab, but there's something about the idea of discovering a completely new pokemon that excites me. Not just because it'll be fun to be able to call my Dad and the other Pokemon professors and tell them the good news, but because so little is known about them. But I mean, you have several pokefusions in your party. Surely you understand that?"

Seth smiled, looking over at his pokemon where they were tucking into their breakfast.

"I rescued a few of them, actually," he admitted. "Marret – a cross between Marill and Sentret – was being experimented on in a Team Rocket lab back in Johto. I… ah… liberated her from there. Pikapunny was a happy accident I happened upon when I met an old man in Kanto. He'd done the league thing in his youth and Pikachu and Lopunny where some of his last pokemon. He asked me to take Pikapunny with me on my journey knowing she'd draw attention to herself in Kanto and knowing he wasn't going to be able to ever have her battle and grow as she deserves staying there in his old cottage with him."

"It was nice of you to take her with you," Maggie said, smiling at the pokemon while Fennkin trotted over and began sniffing at Marret curiously.

Seth smiled too, reaching to hand Bulbloom some more food, but right at that moment Bublbloom leapt out of Maggie's lap.

"Bulbloom! Bloom, bloom, bloom," said the pokemon before she flapped her arms and dashed across the clearing and away into the woods.

"Bulbloom?" Maggies frowned, getting to her feet. "Where are you going?"

Before she could hunt for the pokemon, the others began making noises of distress as well and Seth reached for her, rising quickly.

"Don't move," he murmured, watching his Venusaur beginning to size up against something in the woods that they couldn't see.

"What is it?" she asked.

The sound of heavy footsteps intermingled with Bulbloom's chatter could be heard.

"Saur," said Venusaur, moving around in front of Seth and Maggie, clearly willing to protect his trainer against whatever was approaching.

When Bulbloom burst back through the trees she was still chattering happily to herself and Maggie frowned, noting the way the pokemon looking over her shoulder repeatedly before beckoning at something.

"Bulbloom?" Maggie asked. "What have you found?"

Venusaur shuffled his large bulk and suddenly backed toward the two of them.

"Venusaur?" Seth asked, moving up beside his pokemon and putting a hand on his shoulder. "What is it, buddy?"

Maggie raised her eyebrows when a rather small seeming female Venusaur nosed her way out of the bushes, petals from her Petal Dance scattering about her as she walked, her eyes fixed on Seth's Venusaur.

"Uh oh," Seth began to laugh, looking amused.

"What is it?" Maggie asked, surprised when Bulbloom waddled over and reached for her hand before tugging her in the direction of the other Venusaur.

"I'd say she's one of the ladies Venusaur bred with last night," Seth chuckled. "One night stand gone wrong, she's come looking for him. What's the matter, buddy? You wooed the lady a little too well, huh?"

Venusaur didn't seemed to find it very funny and he continued to back away, looking rather panicked even while Seth laughed at him.

"I think she's wild," Maggie said to Seth quietly when the female Venusaur backed away a little, looking a bit scared as Bulbloom led Maggie closer.

"Bloom, bloom, bloom, Bulbloom," said her pokefusion, chattering away to the female Venusaur.

"I think she's in love," Seth chuckled. "You've got yourself a girlfriend, eh buddy?"

Venusaur Vine-whipped Seth for his cheek and Maggie laughed.

"Venusaur," said the female Venusaur, stepping out of the woods a little more bravely, ignoring Maggie for the time being.

She scattered more Petals as she walked, emitting Sweet-Scent from the flower on her back. Her eyes were still fixed on Seth's Venusaur, and it was clear she was besotted with him.

"She's very beautiful," Maggie said. "Your Venusaur has good taste, Seth."

"Course he does," Seth chuckled. "Watch her, Maggie. She's still caught in the effects of the ritual, I think. I don't think she'll hurt you if you stay out of her way. Venusaur, buddy, you're going to have to own up to your role in this and treat the lady right. You knocked her up, so now you have to face the consequences."

"Saur," Venusaur protested. "Saur, Venusaur."

"It's no use arguing with me. You don't see me running away from Maggie after sleeping with her last night, do you? Don't be a wimp."

Maggie giggled.

"Yeah, thanks for that," she said, trailing after the female Venusaur as she crossed the clearing, more petals and Sweet Scent emitting from her as she moved. She gyrated a little as she walked, apparently attempting to lure Seth's Venusaur into mating with her again.

"Any time," Seth said. "I'm a gentleman, you know? Now, look here, buddy. The lady is obviously in need of a little more loving from you. Why don't you take her into the clearing through there and satisfy her, and then she might leave you alone?"

Maggie giggled when the female Venusaur bounced and waddled in the direction Seth had pointed.

"Venusaur?" Venusaur said, looking at Seth. Maggie couldn't help but laugh.

"Go on," he said. "We'll be waiting right here when you come back. Take care of the lady and sire the next generation of Bulbasaurs, and then we'll go, yeah?"

Venusaur looked reluctant right up until the female Venusaur began another Petal Dance as she walked away. He waddled away into the brush behind the female and Seth narrowed his eyes when they disappeared.

"Come on," he said to Maggie quietly.

"You're going to follow them?" she asked.

"I don't trust that it's not a trap. She might belong to someone and just be trying to lure my Venusaur away to be stolen."

Before they could follow, Bulbloom waddled around in front of them, blocking their path and refusing to let them pass.

"Bulbloom?" Maggie asked, eyeing the pokemon curiously.

"This one's trouble," Seth told her, eyeing Bulbloom when she made to vine-whip him for trying to get past her.

"She just doesn't want us to perv on them," Maggie laughed. "Come on. Leave them be."

She nudged Seth before turning back toward their make-shift camp and scooping up Fennekin when she trotted over.

"Hello," Maggie greeted the creature, cuddling her close. "How about we brush all these twigs and debris out of your tail, miss? I think you had a little too much fun last night, didn't you? I'll have pokemon eggs coming out my ears if you and Bulbloom both got lucky, won't I?"

"Fennekin!" the fox pokemon yapped, licking her chin and squirming in her arms excitedly as Maggie fished a brush out of her pack and settled down on the rock to groom her pokemon.

Bulbloom – having no fur and thus, never having been brushed – bounded over to investigate, attempting to climb up in Maggie's lap as well.

"Oh, goodness, Bulbloom," Maggie laughed. "It's a brush, darling. If you had any fur, I'd be able to brush you too, but you don't."

Pouting, Bublbloom sneezed sleep powder into Maggie's face before jumping down and running over to sit next to Nidoslash – who also didn't have any fur. She began poking the other pokemon curiously, which Nidoslash didn't seem too thrilled about.

"Well, that wasn't very nice, was it, Fennekin?" Maggie asked, laughing and holding her nose so she wouldn't breathe in the sleep powder and get too drowsy.

Fennekin yapped again, settling herself down on Maggie's lap and closing her eyes, clearly affected by the Sleep Powder and willing to let herself be groomed while she slept. Maggie chuckled, shaking her head and beginning to work the brush through Fennekin's thick fur, untangling twigs and leaves from her tail and brushing dried mud from her paws.

While she worked, Seth paced restlessly, looking off in the direction the Venusaur had gone and Maggie watched him quietly. She didn't entirely know what to make of him, if she was being honest. She'd never really met anyone close to her own age who wasn't interested in fighting for the pokemon league and it had made her life feel a little bit lonely. Yet this boy didn't seem too interested in all of that.

"Hey, Seth?" Maggie asked quietly.

Seth looked over, frowning in her direction and clearly worried about his Venusaur.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"How old are you?" Maggie wanted to know.

"I'll be eighteen next month," he shrugged. "You?"

"Sixteen," Maggie smiled. "Will you tell me about your travels, so far? How long have you been a pokemon trainer?"

Seth made a face at her as though he didn't want to answer, and Maggie frowned.

"I… uh… ran away from home when I was eight," he admitted. "Professor Elm gave me a pokemon and a job, since I was so young."

Seth shrugged.

"Eight?" Maggie said. "But… that's so young. Surely your parents would've objected."

Seth winced.

"My… ah… my Mum is… uh… not a very nice person," he said lamely, looking like there was a nasty history between himself and the woman he spoke of. "She… well… crap. She works with Team Rocket and has done since before I was born. Even at eight, she started pushing me to follow in her footsteps and she was associating with bad people and doing bad things. I ran for it before they could steer me too far wrong. Professor Elm took me in for a few weeks and hid me when she came looking. Then he gave me a Cyndaquill and a pokedex and gave me a job as a researcher for him."

Maggie nodded slowly, supposing that it was for the best that he'd run away then.

"You're the boy he told me about," she said quietly, eyeing him much more critically when the story he'd told jogged her memory of a researcher Professor Elm had told he was working for him.

"He mentioned me?" Seth asked, ceasing his pacing and raising his eyebrows in question.

"Not by name," she shook her head. "But he mentioned that one of his researchers had some Pokefusions, and that the same researcher came from a dodgy past."

Seth's mouth twisted.

"Yep, that's me," he said, and Maggie wondered if she'd offended him.

"He spoke highly of you," Maggie told him quietly. "Professor Elm said that you were his best researcher, and that he hoped to one day have you become a Pokemon Professor like him."

Seth looked surprised by her suggestion and Maggie smiled a little, before the sound of Pokemon coupling drifted to them on the breeze. She heard Seth snort at the noise before he tipped his he'd back, putting his hands over his face as he began to laugh.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that Venusaur wasn't luring yours away for nefarious purposes," Maggie giggled just a little and Seth laughed along with her before he strode over and sat down beside her.

He dug into his pack to withdraw some more food, munching on a snack bar while Maggie continued grooming her Fennekin.

"So," Seth said. "You're headed off into the wilds all by yourself with a sleepy Fennekin and a misbehaved Bulbloom. Searching for… what was it? Canine pokemon? And some invertebrate pokemon for Professor Sycamore?"

"That's right," Maggie said, handing him a second brush when his Pikapunny bounded over and climbed into his lap, clearly wanting to be groomed, too.

"You'll be in danger out there by yourself, you know?" he told her. "Especially so soon after a ritual, and especially if you're going after the canines. Some of them aren't very friendly, and they occasionally move in packs. This little Fennekin won't be much of a match if a pack of Midnight Lycanroc's pick up your trail."

Maggie smiled. "I have some repels in my bag, in case things get out of hand. And I think I'll be ok. I've never seen anything as dangerous as a Lycanroc around these parts."

"You sticking to Kalos?" Seth wanted to know.

"For a while," Maggie nodded. "Until I can handle being on my own in the wilds and until I capture all the canine pokemon of this region. After that I might journey to some of the others. Have you been in Kalos long?"

"About a month," Seth nodded. "Not that it's been going very well, so far. I haven't spotted many of the feline pokemon rumoured to be here, and I've been having to avoid Team Flare and Cosette."

"You know Cosette?" Maggie asked, chuckling.

"Yeah, we… uh… met back when I was about fourteen. She was visiting Professor Elm while I was home in Johto and she… uh… got a bit attached."

"Stay away from my dad's lab, then, if you want to avoid her. She's his assistant these days."

"Ah, crap," Seth sighed. "I needed to go and see him to update my Pokedex for this region."

"Oh, I can update it for you," Maggie offered. "I can sync it to mine, so you won't have to stop in and see them."

He whipped his Pokedex out of his pocket so fast that Maggie almost missed it and she laughed. She couldn't exactly blame him for wanting to avoid Cosette. She could be a bit obsessive about certain things and she imagined that, handsome as he was, Seth was definitely someone Cosette would obsess over. Laughing to herself, she took the pokedex from him and connected it to her own through the wifi router.

"It means you'll have my holo-clip number too," she warned him.

Seth shrugged.

"Good. Means I'll be able to contact you and make sure you have been eaten by a pack of Houndooms or mugged by Team Flare and left for dead in the forest somewhere," he said, and Maggie raised her eyebrows out him.

He shot her a crooked smile, one corner of his mouth pulling up even as his Persian stalked over and jumped up into his lap, upsetting Pikapunny and causing a small fight to break out on his lap that made Maggie laugh all the more.

"You really have so little faith in me that you think I'll be mugged or eaten by a bunch of Pokemon?" she demanded, still amused rather than offended.

Seth shrugged, shoving Persian off his lap and watching Pikapunny dive after the feline, a squabble breaking out between the two.

"It's not a lack of faith in your ability as a trainer," he told her. "But you're green. You'd have stumbled right into that glade with the Venusaur last night if I hadn't grabbed you, and you haven't noticed in the slightest that there's a Pokemon over there in the bushes watching us."

He tipped his head away to the left and Maggie paused in her button pushing on the two Pokedex's she held to look in that direction. She could see anything, and the bushes weren't moving.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Nidoslash has looked that way four times in the past minute, even with Bulbloom chattering away and prodding him like that," Seth told her. "I don't think it's anything too worrisome, or Nidoslash would've investigated, but there's definitely something there. You've got to start paying more attention to your surroundings, and you've got to pay more attention to your Pokemon. Bulbloom is going to be a big distraction for you as you travel because she's loud, and she's not interested in her surroundings and her safety. She's probably been raised in your care or in your Dad's lab, am I right?"

Maggie nodded guiltily, eyeing the pokemon seriously.

"She's been in my Dad's lab most of the time, and occasionally with me when she was younger, and he'd let me bring her home overnight," Maggie admitted.

"And as a result, she's come to rely on people to ensure her safety and she isn't using her instincts because until now, she's never had to worry about a big, hungry pokemon leaping out of the forest intent on eating her or her trainer. Until she adjusts, you'll have to be doubly watchful, and you'll have to rely on Fennekin pretty heavily to keep you safe. There are a lot of dangerous pokemon in this region, not the least of which involve a fair few bear type pokemon, several canines, some large felines and a whole lot of aggressive ground, dark, and flying pokemon. If you're not on your game or you're not paying attention, you might find yourself in for a nasty surprise."

Before she could respond, a small and scared-looking Oddish dashed out of the bushes where Seth had indicated, flushed out by Venusaur as he returned.

"Bulbloom!" said her pokefusion and Maggie watched the Bulbloom jump to her feet and run over, intent on investigating the new pokemon.

Terrified to be trapped between the noisy Bulbloom and the enormous Venusaur, the small Oddish yelled before releasing its Stun Spores. Neither Bulbloom, nor Venusaur, were affected by the spores, both being poison grass pokemon themselves, and Oddish panicked when neither of the threatening pokemon reacted to his attack.

"Oh no, shhh, it's ok," Maggie said, handing the pokedexes back to Seth and getting to her feet quickly. "It's alright, little guy. No one is going to hurt you. I'm sure Venusaur didn't meant to frighten you out of the shrubs, and Bulbloom is loud, but she won't hurt you, I promise. Will you, Bulbloom?"

Maggie crouched once she'd approached the small Oddish, making herself as small as she could to keep from scaring the Oddish all the more and she was rewarded for the action by having the Oddish charge right at her. He dived beneath her legs and crouched there trembling.

"Oh, little one, it's alright," Maggie said softly, reaching for the small pokemon carefully. "Don't be afraid."

"Oddish! Oddish, Oddish!" the poor little pokemon protested when she carefully ran her fingers through the grassy shoots that looked almost like hair sprouting from the top of his body.

"Shhhh, you're alright, darling," Maggie crooned to the pokemon gently, letting him get used to the feel of her touch before she carefully smoothed both hands over his small, round body and lifted him into her lap.

"Oddish!" he protested again, squirming a little.

"Hello, little one," Maggie smiled gently when the creature's eyes fixed on her face.

Oddish blinked at her repeatedly, trembling a little but seeming to relax when he realised she wasn't going to harm him.

"Bloom! Bulbloom, bulbloom," said her Bulbloom, crowding close and wanting to investigate this new pokemon.

"Oh, Bulbloom, you silly girl, leave him be," Maggie scolded though she couldn't help laughing when Oddish squealed and wriggled closer to Maggie as he tried to escape Bulbloom's curious hands.

"Bloom?" Bulbloom said, tipping her head to one side and watching Maggie for a long moment, frowning.

"You need to be gentle, sweetheart," Maggie told her. "He's frightened because you're much bigger than him. He was minding his own business in the bushes before Venusaur came along and startled him. Isn't that right, Oddish? Are you hungry, little one? We have some delicious food you might like?"

She leaned over, reaching for the bowl of Bulblooms treats she'd set down and offering one to the little Oddish. He eyed it warily before gulping it down, his little mouth closing over her fingers and making Maggie giggle.

"Bloom?" Bulbloom asked, dashing to her bowl and scooping up some food for herself before bringing some back for Oddish and offering him more.

He looked scared, but he snatched the food from the bigger pokemon and gobbled it down, just the same.

"Tasty?" Maggie asked him, smoothing her fingers through his shoots again.

"Oddish," he nodded.

Maggie laughed.

"There's plenty more, if you'd like to stay with us, Oddish?" Maggie offered. "Bulbloom, Fennekin and I are off on an adventure, if you'd like to come along. I have a nice cosy Pokeball you might like?"

"Oddish?" the pokemon blinked and Maggie pulled an empty ball from her belt, showing it to him.

"Oddish. Oddish, Oddish," he muttered, sniffing the ball before trying to take a bite out of that too.

Maggie laughed before offering him some more food. When he took it, she activated the ball and captured the Oddish inside it, smiling gently. There was only a few moments of wriggling as he fought the ball before he gave in, accepting his fate as her pokemon.

When she looked up, Maggie was surprised to find Seth watching her with a little frown on his face.

"What?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I've never seen anyone capture a wild pokemon like that before," Seth said quietly. "Most people would've tried to battle the Oddish, rather than comforting him and feeding him."

Maggie shrugged.

"He was scared," she said. "There was no need to frighten him any worse than Bulbloom already did. And Fennekin is asleep."

She pointed at her Fennekin where the fox pokemon slept on.

"And Venusaur has returned," Maggie grinned as she got to her feet and scrubbed her knuckles between the enormous creature's eyes. "Feeling better, big guy?"

"Saur!" Venusaur groaned, leaning into the touch.

Maggie smiled.

"I suppose I should get going," she said as she dusted off her jeans and returned Fennekin and Bulbloom to their balls.

Seth was still eyeing her like she was some strange new creature he'd never seen before.

"Which way are you going?" he asked.

Maggie shrugged. "Away from the city," she told him. "I'll venture off into the wilds and see how long it takes before I need to return to town for food, or more pokeballs, or a pokemon centre visit."

"You came from Lumoise city, right?" he asked.

"Camphire Town and Route 7," Maggie told him. "I thought I might head for the connecting cave, Cyllage City and the surrounding routes. A lot of the pokemon I'm interested in catching hang out around there."

"That's a long way," Seth told her, frowning. "Are you sure you have enough supplies to make it that far?"

Maggie chuckled. "I'll be fine, Seth," she said. "But you're sweet to worry. What about you? Which way are you headed now that you don't have to risk seeing Cosette?"

Seth frowned. "I was going to offer to accompany you to Cyllage City, but it's too far. I don't have enough supplies to make it there without stopping at Camphire Town."

Maggie nodded.

Seth returned his pokemon to their ball, and Maggie noticed that even Venusaur looked grateful for the chance to rest after his big night. They packed up their makeshift camp quietly after that, and Maggie found herself frowning a little as she watched Seth roll up his sleeping bag, recalling how it had felt waking up beside him with his arms curled around her in the shared bag.

Part of her wondered if maybe she should offer to return to Camphire Town with him. He seemed nice and he had several pokefusions and she'd slept with him, last night. But another part of her didn't want to come on too strong or cause him to think she was desperate or scared to go by herself. She'd waited an extra five years to start her pokemon journey and she wasn't about to throw away her dreams of making discoveries just for the company of a boy.

With nothing to say, she helped him pack up the last of their make-shift campsite and shouldered her pack. He did the same and Maggie traced her eyes over his face, watching him curiously and wondering what she was supposed to say to him before they parted ways. Should she thank him for last night? She was sure she would blush if she did. Even thinking about it made her blush when she recalled the almost violent way he'd taken her against the trees and on the ground like they were as wild as they pokemon who'd sparked the ritual.

"Are you sure you want to travel to Cyllage City alone?" he asked her seriously.

Maggie smiled.

"No," she confessed. "But if I go back to Camphire Town so soon, I might never make it out."

Seth's lips twitched like he might smile.

"Fair enough," he nodded. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "You're one of the only other researchers interested in pokefusion, Seth. I'm pretty sure you'll end up included on the conference calls along with the other Professors if I come across any new species."

He grinned.

"Keep me posted," he nodded. "Or just ring if you get bored. It's pretty lonely travelling in the wilds by yourself…"

Maggie smiled.

"Careful," she warned. "Or you might never escape me. You wouldn't want to end up like your Venusaur, would you? Pursued by a one-night-stand forevermore?"

Seth laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

"There's something to be said for the power of a mating ritual," he argued. "Maybe I wouldn't mind spending next year's Equinox with you, too."

Maggie laughed, shaking her head at him.

"We'll see," she told him, her cheeks turning pink.

"Good luck out there," he told her. "And I mean it. If you get lost, or you get scared, or you just get lonely, ring me, alright? I'm probably headed for Route 5. There're supposed to be a lot of feline type pokemon there that I wouldn't mind getting my hands on. Good luck with the canines, yeah? And watch it with Bulbloom. Don't trust her instincts."

Maggie nodded, surprised when he crossed the distance between the two of them and drew her into a tight embrace. Unable to help herself, Maggie burrowed into his chest, breathing in the scent of his skin and snuggling into the warmth and kindness he offered.

"Good luck with the cats," Maggie said against his neck. "Ring me if you find anything exciting."

Seth chuckled, and Maggie felt him drop a kiss to the top of her head. When he released her, they stepped back from each other and Maggie smiled up at him for a long moment before nodding her head.

"I'll see you around," Seth told her as he backed away while she did the same.

"Good luck in Camphire Town," Maggie nodded.

Seth nodded his head too, and when he reached the edge of the clearing that led back toward the road to Camphire Town he turned away and disappeared into the trees. Maggie turned too, still smiling as she faced toward the glade where the Venusaur had danced and she took her first steps toward discovering anything and everything she could pertaining to the ritual, and the world of pokemon, at large.


End file.
